Kidnapping

News about Kidnapping, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Aug. 22, 2014

Kidnapping of two Amish girls in Oswegatchie, NY, highlights constant challenges Amish face by adhering to 19th-century agrarian lifestyle in 21st-century world; interviews with Amish in upstate New York area offer picture of two communities living side by side for the most part comfortably, though sometimes, as in the case of police investigation of kidnapping, extremely uncomfortably. MORE

Aug. 17, 2014

Authorities say that two Amish sisters who were kidnapped from their farm in upstate New York suffered sexual assault; kidnappers Nicole F Vaisey and Stephen M Howells II have been arrested and charged in incident. MORE

Aug. 16, 2014

Boko Haram fighters snatch dozens of young people from another village in Nigeria, four months after group abducted nearly 300 girls from rural school. MORE

Aug. 16, 2014

Authorities in upstate New York arrest Stephen Howells and Nicole Vaisey in abduction of two young Amish girls from their farm, crime that set off frantic search and drew national media attention; girls have been reunited with their family but investigators have yet to provide further details. MORE

Aug. 15, 2014

St Lawrence County, NY, officials say Amish girls Delila and Fannie Miller have been found; girls disappeared the night before, and their return ended a search that was complicated by customs of Amish as well as technological problems that come with the modern world. MORE

Aug. 6, 2014

Court papers reveal that Israeli authorities have arrested Palestinian man Hussam Qawasmeh, accusing him of being prime mover in kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers, setting off most recent conflict with Hamas in Gaza. MORE

Jul. 30, 2014

Al Qaeda has turned kidnapping of Europeans into business that bankrolls its global operations; investigation by The New York Times has found that Al Qaeda and its direct affiliates have taken in at least $125 million in revenue from kidnappings since 2008, even though European governments deny paying ransoms (Series: Underwriting Jihad). MORE

Jul. 30, 2014

Segundo Tevez, father of Argentina and Juventus soccer star Carlos Tevez, is kidnapped by unknown assailants and then safely released eight hours after. MORE

Jul. 29, 2014

Violent Islamists of Boko Haram are targeting prominent political figures in Cameroon and Nigeria; terrorist group has attacked or kidnapped prominent citizens in Cameroon and committed a series of suicide bombings in Nigeria that have killed at least 11 people over two days. MORE

Jul. 28, 2014

Iraqi Shiite militiamen kidnap Riyadh al-Adhadh, Sunni president of Baghdad’s provincial council, and four of his bodyguards in brazen move that threatens to further convulse battle-torn country; men are beaten and tortured as their tormentors demand they admit that Adhadh was going to support invasion of capital by Sunni militants; men are eventually released. MORE

Jul. 26, 2014

Armed men abduct well-known Libyan political activist Abdel-Moaz Banoun in Tripoli. MORE

Jul. 23, 2014

Pres Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria meets for the first time with parents of several hundred schoolgirls who were kidnapped from the town of Chibok and dozens of classmates who escaped their militant captors; assures group of his determination to bring out the captives alive. MORE

Jul. 13, 2014

Nicholas Kristof Op-Ed column notes that it has been almost three months since Boko Haram militants in Nigeria kidnapped more than 250 girls; contends United States must do as much as possible for those girls; maintains that US must also step up its funding for education globally, particularly for groups like Global Partnership For Education. MORE

Jul. 2, 2014

Federal Judge Paul G Gardephe in Manhattan orders former New York City police officer Gilberto Valle released on bond, hours after overturning his conviction in plot to kidnap, kill and eat women; says Valle's Internet plotting had been 'fantasy role play' and was not evidence of an actual crime; ruling revives debate over when virtual crime becomes actual crime. MORE

Jul. 2, 2014

Israeli security forces turn their full attention to searching for two Palestinian suspects in kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers, as tensions between Israel and Hamas continue to escalate; almost from the start, Israel sought to pin the abduction on Hamas, whose reconciliation deal with Palestine Liberation Organization it vigorously opposes; Hamas leaders have praised the kidnappings but not claimed credit for it. MORE

Jul. 1, 2014

Israel's intense 18-day search for three abducted teenagers ends when their bodies are found buried under pile of rocks in field 15 miles from where they were last seen in occupied West Bank; discovery prompts vows of retaliation by Israel, which blames Palestinian group Hamas for the killings. MORE

Jul. 1, 2014

Gun battle between Mexican soldiers and armed group that attacked a convoy leaves at least 22 people dead in one of the bloodiest confrontations in the drug war; three women who had been kidnapped are freed, and a large cache of assault rifles, ammunition and a grenade are seized. MORE

Jul. 1, 2014

Conviction of former New York City Police Officer Gilberto Valle in plot to kidnap, torture, kill and eat women is overturned by Judge Paul G Gardephe of Federal District Court in Manhattan for insufficient evidence; judge grants former officer a verdict of acquittal on charge of kidnapping conspiracy, which could have brought life sentence; Valle now faces maximum sentence of one year on additional charge, and he has been dismissed from force. MORE

Jun. 30, 2014

Rachel Fraenkel, mother of kidnapped Israeli teenager Naftali Fraenkel, and Aida Abdel Aziz Dudeen, whose son Mohammed was killed during Israel crackdown in West Bank, have been thrust into conspicuous roles amid conflict between two societies; Israel's security crackdown, which has claimed five lives so far, has raised questions about asymmetry of Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the value of lives on both sides. MORE

Jun. 27, 2014

Israel names Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisha as prime suspects in kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers; describes them as 'Hamas activists.' MORE

Jun. 25, 2014

Rachel Fraenkel, mother of one of three Israeli teenagers abducted in West Bank, appears before United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva to ask for more international efforts to secure their release. MORE

Jun. 24, 2014

Beit Kahil Journal; village of Beit Kahil in Hebron has become focal point of sweeping search being conducted by Bedouin members of Israeli military for three kidnapped Israeli teenagers; Israeli government has accused Hamas of being behind the abduction. MORE

Jun. 23, 2014

Abduction of three Israeli teenagers in West Bank has significantly escalated tensions between Israeli and Palestinian leadership, raising fears of third intifada in West Bank and Gaza Strip; kidnapping has prompted Israel to unleash most intense West Bank crackdown in nearly a decade, claiming lives of four Palestinians; Palestinian Authority Pres Mahmoud Abbas has incurred unprecedented wrath for aiding in Israel's search for teenagers. MORE

Jun. 21, 2014

Saturday Profile of Sherri Mandell, for whom news of thee kidnapped Israeli teenagers serves as reminder of death of her son Koby, who was bludgeoned to death in Byzantine cave in 2001 during second Palestinian intifada; Mandell and her husband Seth head foundation that runs camps for children who have lost relatives and support groups for bereaved mothers. MORE

Jun. 21, 2014

Israeli troops kill Palestinian youth and seriously wound several adults as their sweeping West Bank arrest campaign following kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers both slows and encounters more resistance. MORE

Jun. 19, 2014

President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority denounces abduction of three Israeli teenagers and vows to help catch the kidnappers; pressure has mounted on him and has threatened to collapse his fraying reconciliation pact with the militant Islamic movement Hamas; Abbas makes it clear that the Palestinian Authority is assisting Israel in its search for the teenagers. MORE

Jun. 18, 2014

Jewish groups in New York, often ringing with discordant opinions, are united by prayers as days pass without word of the three kidnapped teenagers who were students at yeshivas in the West Bank. MORE

Jun. 17, 2014

Israelis trained to promote their country’s image online started a campaign last week, using a hashtag inspired by Nigerian activists, after three teenagers disappeared on their way home from religious schools in the occupied West Bank. MORE

Jun. 17, 2014

Crackdown in Hebron by Israeli troops in wake of kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers is being described by Palestinians in the West Bank as siege; Israel has arrested 150 people, most of them leaders of the militant Islamic movement Hamas, and Aziz Dweik, speaker of the inert Palestinian Parliament. MORE

Jun. 17, 2014

Three Israeli teenagers kidnapped by Palestinian militants while hitchhiking in West Bank have provoked outpouring of sympathy in Israel's ordinarily fractious society; abductions have stirred more hushed debate, however, over conduct of Jewish settlers in West Bank and price that Israel has paid to redeem its captives. MORE

Jun. 15, 2014

Search continues for three Israeli teenagers who went missing in the West Bank and are presumed to have been abducted by Palestinian militants; situation underscores the complexity of Israel's relations with the Palestinian Authority and the authority's deep differences with Hamas despite a recent reconciliation pact. MORE

Jun. 14, 2014

Three Israeli teenagers missing in the West Bank are presumed to have been kidnapped; episode tests Israel's already strained ties with Palestinians and prompts involvement of State Dept amid reports that one of the teenagers is American. MORE

Jun. 3, 2014

Police in Abuja, Nigeria, say they have banned protests organized to demand that the government rescue the more than 200 girls still held captive by Boko Haram militants. MORE

Jun. 2, 2014

Italian priests Giampaolo Marta and Gianatonio Allegri and Canadian nun Gilberte Bussiere are freed after having been kidnapped near Cameroon's border with Nigeria in April. MORE

May. 31, 2014

Malaysian Prime Min Najib Razak says that Chinese tourist and Filipino worker have been rescued nearly two months after they were abducted from a resort off Borneo. MORE

May. 31, 2014

Editorial applauds international response to militant group Boko Haram's abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls in northern Nigeria, including local intervention by United States; cautions, however, that foreign nations cannot always be expected to come to rescue in such situations, and that every nation is responsible for its own citizens' safety; urges Nigerian Pres Goodluck Jonathan to address root causes of disaffection. MORE

May. 30, 2014

North Korea agrees to open new investigation into fate of Japanese citizens abducted by its agents during Cold War; Japan says it will start lifting sanctions; moves signal possible diplomatic breakthrough in emotional issue that has divided nations. MORE

May. 28, 2014

Nigeria's chief government spokesman Reuben Abati denies that any official talks are underway with extremist group Boko Haram; remarks neither confirm nor apparently rule out some type of discussion with the group, and do little to dispel local media reports of possible negotiation to free hundreds of kidnapped schoolgirls. MORE

May. 27, 2014

Nigerian Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh says military knows location of nearly 300 girls abducted by Boko Haram extremists; assertion is first time Nigerian government has publicly claimed to know whereabouts of missing girls. MORE

May. 24, 2014

Intelligence agents have poured into Nigeria's capital of Abuja to help find nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls abducted by Islamist extremist group Boko Haram but with little or no progress; many in the rescue effort say problem is with Nigerian military, which is so poorly trained and riddled with corruption that it is losing the broader fight against Boko Haram. MORE

May. 23, 2014

Prosecutors in Orange County, Calif, say Isidro Medrano Garcia abducted the 15-year-old daughter of his girlfriend and she spent the next decade as his wife and the mother of his child. MORE

May. 23, 2014

Indictment is unsealed in Trenton, New Jersey, that bluntly details three actual kidnappings by rabbis and ultra-Orthodox men of husbands who refused to grant divorces to their wives; indictment charges five men, including Mendel Epstein of Brooklyn, the accused ringleader; accused are charged with torturing husbands so that they would agree to grant divorces, which under Jewish law cannot occur without the man's consent. MORE

May. 22, 2014

United States is sending 80 troops to Chad in Central Africa to support growing international effort in neighboring Nigeria to help find and rescue schoolgirls who were abducted by Islamist extremist group Boko Haram. MORE

May. 22, 2014

California woman who was abducted at 15 by Isidro Garcia, her mother's boyfriend, is found after 10 years; Santa Ana, Calif, police say victim, whose name is not released, had been forced her to marry Garcia and have his child; he is arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, rape and false imprisonment. MORE

May. 20, 2014

United States has reached agreement with Nigeria to share some intelligence to bolster search for more than 200 girls kidnapped by group Boko Haram. MORE

May. 19, 2014

Profile of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, who commanded rampages and slaughtered civilians for years before kidnapping hundreds of schoolgirls and capturing the world's attention; Shekau inherited leadership of group following death of Mohammed Yusuf in 2009, promoting harsh vision of Islam and ruling by fear and brutal violence; seems undaunted as he becomes target of international manhunt. MORE

May. 18, 2014

Leaders of five West African countries meet with Western officials and agree to share intelligence and strengthen military cooperation to combat regional threat from extremist Islamist group Boko Haram, which abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in northern Nigeria; meeting is held at request of Nigerian president, Goodluck Johnson and organized by Pres Francois Hollande of France. MORE

May. 17, 2014

First visit by Nigerian Pres Goodluck Jonathan to Chibok, Nigeria, village from which nearly 300 girls were abducted by Boko Haram, is abruptly canceled because of security fears. MORE

May. 16, 2014

Obama administration officials, testifying before Senate Foreign Relations Committee, question whether Nigerian military is able to rescue, even with international help, more than 260 school girls abducted by extremist group Boko Haram; social media campaign calling for United States to do more to free hostages is supported by some members of Congress, but has made Pentagon increasingly uneasy. MORE

Nineteen of the Assyrian Christians seized by Islamic State militants last week in northeastern Syria have been freed, and they met with church officials in a cathedral in the city of Hasaka, local leaders said Sunday.